


a nice girl from somewhere else

by hurricaneamelia



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Meredith Grey, Cristina is wise and all-knowing, Ellis Grey is a terrible mom, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers (eventually), F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Meredith is sad, Season 3, Slow Burn, crackship, knowing my lack of pacing skills itll be more like a really quick and aggressive rug burn, maybe? - Freeform, meredith grey likes girls and you can’t convince me otherwise, non-canon compliant, title is from a private practice episode
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-05-23 17:18:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14938553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hurricaneamelia/pseuds/hurricaneamelia
Summary: But Addison doesn’t totally hate Meredith. She thinks it would be easier if Meredith were a heartless, unloving bitch, but she’s actually really sweet.





	1. Chapter 1

Things between Meredith and Addison are strange. Obviously, it’s not easy to get along with your husband’s secret mistress whom you had to travel across the country to confront. But Addison doesn’t totally hate Meredith. She thinks it would be easier if Meredith were a heartless, unloving bitch, but she’s actually really sweet. A little corrupted and strangely depressing, but sweet.

Meredith has the same problem. She wants to hate Addison, but she doesn’t know why. Addison isn’t the bad person in this situation. Sure, she cheated on Derek, but Meredith was willing to admit that Addison didn’t deserve her husband leaving her in New York and finding someone else in Seattle. If anything, Derek was the evil one. He led Meredith on and gave her no hints that he was married. Meredith was pretty sure Addison hated her for it, at least until Addison told her otherwise while she was high on morphine. Meredith remembers Addison saying she wouldn’t remember a thing once the drugs wore off—much to Addison’s distress, because despite the history of Alzheimer’s in her family, Mer had a pretty great memory.

The two had just finished a long surgery together, and they were scrubbing out when Meredith decided to break the silence. 

“I remember what you told me,” she says, trying to speak over the sound of the running water. Addison turns to her, a confused expression on her face—which Mer notices, despite the surgical mask covering half of it. “When I got my appendix removed. The whole thing about you not hating me,” she fills in, and Addison widens her eyes and nods. 

“Yeah, uh, don’t worry about that. I get that you hate my guts, I would too if I were you. I’m just the bitchy wife that comes in to ruin your dream relationship, you know?” Addison mutters, turning her focus back to scrubbing her arms.

“I don’t hate you, actually. Aside from the occasional bitchiness, I think you’re kind of nice. Nice enough to deserve a better husband, at least,” Mer comments, turning off the water as she finished scrubbing. Addison laughs softly, almost as if she doesn’t trust Meredith’s words.

“I thought you idolized Derek—or McDreamy, or whatever it is you call him,” she replies, and she sees Mer shake her head out of the corner of her eye. 

“It’s complicated. I’ve been thinking a lot, and I can tell you hate yourself for hurting him—you never stop apologizing,” she points out, and Addison scoffs. 

“You don’t have to bring that up. I know, I’m an awful person, I don’t deserve love because I cheated. I get it,” she replies as she dries her hands and pulls off her mask.

“That’s not what I was gonna say!” Meredith objects, pulling off her mask as well and leaning against the scrub sink. “I was just going to say that I don’t think you’re the bad person here. Derek acts like he gets an excuse to cheat because you did too, but that’s not true. He shouldn’t have done that. Especially with someone who lives across the country. It’s not fair to you.” Addison stares at Meredith in shock for a moment. That was the last thing she expected to hear from anyone, especially Meredith of all people.

“...Also, Derek called me a whore, so I’m not exactly on ‘Team McDreamy’ right now,” Meredith adds, shrugging as she unties her scrub cap. She looks back at Addison when she doesn’t recieve a reply, sighing when she sees the tears in the redhead’s eyes. “Sorry. I know you don’t wanna hear my opinion, I’m just the dirty mistress who stole your husband. I’ll shut up now,” she murmurs, walking past Addison towards the door of the scrub room. She gasps when she feels the other woman grab her hand tightly.

“Thank you,” she chokes out, wiping her eyes and looking back at Meredith. The smaller girl smiles at her, a genuine smile, and Addison thinks it’ll cheer her up, but she only finds herself crying harder. She turns her head away quickly, covering her mouth as her other hand grips the edge of the sink. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Dr. Grey, please go,” she whispers through sobs. “I don’t want you to see me like this. You’re just going to see me the way Derek has this whole time—“ Addison is cut off when Meredith squeezes her hand, the affection confusing her even more.

“It’s alright, Dr. Montgomery. Let me take you to an on-call room, okay? You look tired, and it’ll give you a chance to calm down,” Meredith replies, and Addison shakes her head.

“I don’t—I can’t let anyone look at me. They’ll think I’m pathetic,” she says, and Meredith uses her free hand to wipe away some of Addison’s tears. 

“I’ll cover you. It’s okay, Addison.”

The words calm Addison down a bit, and she manages to quiet down enough that Meredith can guide her through the hallway without anyone noticing them. Meredith finds an empty on-call room and locks the door behind them, leading Addison to one of the beds. Addison sits down and wipes her eyes again, leaning against the wall. “You can go now. Thank you for everything,” she whispers, but Meredith shakes her head and kneels in front of Addison. 

“I’m not leaving until you fall asleep. I want to make sure you’re alright. If it were me, I’d want someone to do the same.”

“Thank you, Dr. Grey,” Addison replies shakily, reaching up to untie her scrub cap. Meredith stops her by taking her hands again.

“Let me,” she mutters, moving her hands behind Addison’s head and pulling off her scrub cap. “And call me Meredith,” she adds as she takes off the other woman’s sneakers, leaving her in only her navy blue scrubs. “We’re on a first-name basis now.” 

“Meredith,” Addison whispers as she lays back against the slightly uncomfortable bed. On-call rooms have never been her favorite place to rest, but she’ll take anything at this moment. “...Will you stay with me? You seem tired, too.” 

Meredith nods and puts one foot on the ladder of the metal bunk bed, confused when Addison takes her hand to stop her. “Stay...in my bed,” she says under her breath, and Meredith barely picks it up. “If you want,” ahe adds quickly, and she would cover her face if she weren’t so tired. “Sorry if that’s weird.”

“It’s not,” Meredith insists as she climbs into the bed next to Addison, and it’s pretty small so spooning is their only option. She expects it to feel uncomfortable, but instead it’s warm and welcoming. She pulls the blanket around Addison a bit more, draping her arm overthe taller woman’s waist. She doesn’t want to admit it to herself, but she feels her heart flutter at how natural this feels. She may like her boyfriend’s wife a little more than she’s admitted to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> guess who decided to turn this into a multi-chapter fic? i love this pairing so much, i had to write more for them <3

It’s been two weeks and three days since Meredith and Addison spent the night in an on-call room together—but who’s counting? Meredith definitely hasn’t been waiting to see how long Addison would give her the silent treatment, nor has she been silently praying they would get stuck on an elevator just so she could start a conversation. Even when she’s on Addison’s service, the attending manages to speak only through gestures and very demanding eye contact.

Meredith still hasn’t figured out what that night meant for her. She isn’t used to letting her guard down around other people, and it’s clear that Addison is the same way. As for the young intern, she’s been wondering if being nice to Addison could even be a possibility. Sure, it would confuse her friends, but she doesn’t see the point in pretending to hate someone. If she’s being honest with herself, it’s stressing her out. And her mom’s been in the hospital, which is only making matters worse for her mental state. She’s stretching herself out, trying to do as many surgeries as she can to avoid thinking about her problems. She hasn’t slept in almost three days, and it’s pushing her to a limit.

She’s standing in the locker room, a piece of toast in her mouth as she forces her arm through the sleeve of her scrub shirt when she hears Bailey start listing off who’s on which service. When she hears her name and ‘Dr. Montgomery’ in the same sentence, her mouth opens and the toast falls onto the floor. She sighs, forgetting whatever she was going to say. 

“Do you have a problem with that, Dr. Grey?” Bailey says, raising an eyebrow as if to say I am not in the mood for your bullshit today, or any day, for that matter. Meredith shakes her head, leaning down to pick up the toast so she can throw it away. Cristina gives her a half-sarcastic, half-sympathetic pat on the shoulder. 

“Sorry about getting stuck on the gynie squad again,” she says with a laugh. “Of course, it’s worse for you, because you’re stuck with the woman who thinks you’re a dirty mistress and a slut.” Meredith fakes a laugh, tossing the half-eaten toast into a trash can. Cristina has no idea what the extent of her situation is—Meredith refuses to say anything about that night until she knows exactly what it means. 

Meredith’s feet drag a little as she forces herself down to the OB/GYN wing. She stands patiently next to Addison, who’s in the middle of doing a chart at the nurses’ station. She knows speaking will only result in her having to sit around and do paperwork all day, and she’s really hoping to get a surgery today. Addison closes the chart and eyes Meredith, pushing the pile of papers into her arms. She gestures in a way that Meredith assumes means ‘follow me’, so she does. They enter a patient’s room—a woman, somewhere in her 40s, accompanied by a man around the same age. 

Addison leans against the walk and looks at Meredith expectantly. Mer smiles at the patient and opens the chart, clearing her throat before reading. “Suzanne Daniels, age 43, 6 months pregnant. Suzanne suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's…” her voice trails off at that word, but she forces herself to keep going. “And she has a routine C-section scheduled for today.” She takes a deep breath and smiles at the patient, who looks incredibly confused.

“A C-section? I’m not pregnant,” the patient says softly, turning to her husband with a confused look on her face. 

“You are nine months pregnant, Mrs. Daniels. You’re having a C-section due to your heart condition, which makes it very likely that a natural birth will do more harm than good,” Addison says, meanwhile Meredith tries to keep a smile on her face. She was hoping that being on Addison’s service would at least mean she got to see cute babies instead of confused women with Alzheimer’s. The patient says something else, but Meredith isn’t really concentrating on her words. She’s started thinking about her mom. 

“Dr. Grey,” she hears Addison say strictly, but Meredith’s mind is wandering. She doesn't want to be here, she wants to go away…

“Dr. Grey.”

She wishes she could forget all of this just like her mother can. She doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s kind of jealous of Ellis. She can say whatever she wants, hurt whoever she wants, and she’ll still be the victim because she’s sick—and she’s Ellis Grey. 

“Dr. Grey!” Addison yells, grabbing the patient’s chart and pulling it out of Meredith’s hands. Meredith stutters, trying to come up with an excuse. “This is unacceptable behavior,” Addison scolds quietly, and all the fragile intern can hear is her mother’s voice talking her down. 

“I’m sorry,” Meredith whispers, looking at the floor in shame. “I just have a lot on my mind, Dr. Montgomery. I promise it won’t happen again.” 

Addison crosses her arms, thinking for a moment before she grabs Meredith’s arm and pulls her into the hallway. “Are you feeling alright, Meredith?” She asks, putting her fingers under the smaller girl’s chin to tilt her head up. 

“Don’t call me Meredith. You lost that right when you ignored me for two weeks.”

“This is not personal, Dr. Grey. This is me being concerned that you can give my patients the standard of care they deserve.” 

“That’s bullshit, Dr. Montgomery, and you know it. I’m fine, it’s none of your business anyways,” Meredith says, trying to hold back tears. “If you really cared about how I act around patients, maybe you shouldn’t put me on cases like this when you’ve seen my mother recently. What made you think that was a good idea?” She hisses, crossing her arms over her chest. “Go to hell,” she adds finally, sniffling and leaning against the wall. She feels defeated. She’s been using all of her energy, and she doesn’t have it in her to argue with Addison. Over something this stupid, too. 

“Meredith,” the attending whispers, carefully placing her hand over the smaller girl’s. “You need to rest, okay? Why don’t I take you to an on-call room? I’ll cover for you, don’t worry about it.” 

“No way,” Meredith protests immediately, pulling her hand away and scowling. “No, I’m not letting this become a thing. I helped you, but that doesn’t mean you owe me anything. Just because I don’t hate you doesn’t mean I like you.” Addison sighs and shakes her head, taking the intern’s hand again.

“That was not an option, Dr. Grey. I can’t have you around patients when you’re this strung out. I’m taking you to an on-call room, and I will stay there until you fall asleep,” Addison says strictly. Meredith is too exhausted to respond, so she lets Addison drag her down the hallway. If anyone were to see this, they wouldn’t think anything of it. Just an attending making sure that she can trust an intern with patients. That’s all this is, nothing more.

Nothing more, Meredith reminds herself in her head as Addison guides her to a bed. She shifts away from the redhead’s touch, murmuring something along the lines of ‘I don’t need your help’. She’s exhausted, so her words slur together a bit. She slowly crawls under the thin blanket, lying on her side and facing the wall. Addison is persistent, she makes that clear when she sits on the bed next to Meredith’s. Meredith blinks at the wall, pulling the blanket up to her neck. She’s always hated sleeping in on-call rooms, it reminds her of her childhood. She spent more time in these beds than she did in her own bed at home. She feels just like she did then—small and alone. She could never rest easily as a child, knowing her mother was in the same building as her but couldn’t be bothered to even check in on her or tuck her in like the moms on TV did. Ellis is here again now, and she can’t recognize her own daughter. Meredith wonders if this will be her life forever; forgotten in the shadow of someone bigger than her. She doesn’t think she can sleep, feeling alone like this. “...Addison?” She murmurs, not bothering to turn her head. Looking at the woman right now would only make her feel weaker. 

“Hmm?” Addison replies, leaning against the metal of the bunk bed. 

“Will you…” Meredith whispers, the shame evident in her voice. “Hold me, or something?”

Addison chuckles, making Meredith’s stomach churn. “I thought you didn’t want to make this a thing?”

“Shut up,” the small girl replies, her voice cracking as she starts to cry. God, she doesn’t need Addison to berate her for this. She’s already miserable. “Sorry I asked,” she gasps, covering her face with her hands and pulling her knees up to her chest. She shivers when she feels a hand on her waist, and soon Addison’s body is pressed up against hers. 

“It’s fine, Meredith,” Addison whispers, her hand slowly interlocking with the intern’s. Meredith lets out a heavy sob, gripping Addison’s hand with all the force she has left in her. 

“I’m so tired—all the time,” she chokes out. “It just…hurts. Being here hurts.”

“Here? You mean, the hospital?”

Meredith shakes her head. “Anywhere. It hurts to...exist, you know.” 

Addison sighs sympathetically, and Meredith swears she feels the redhead’s lips faintly brush against her neck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi sorry i haven’t updated in a while! i’ve been on vacation but i’m back now <3 please leave comments they make me happy and inspire me to write more :,)

When Meredith wakes up, she’s alone. She tries not to feel hurt, because Addison is probably busy with patients. She rolls onto her back, rubbing her eyes as she reaches into the pocket of her scrubs and pulls out her phone. She needs to talk to Cristina about whatever the hell is going on.

M: _are u busy?_

C: _Burke has me doing charts, so no. Not really. You need something?_

M: _yeah. need to talk about some shit, meet me in the tunnels?_

C: _You got it._

She sighs as she sits up, stretching out her arms. According to her phone, she’s only been asleep for about an hour, which has only made her aware of how tired she is. She stands up, regardless of how much she wants to go back to sleep. She fixes the ponytail her hair is tied in, hoping she can look semi-presentable. 

When she gets to their usual meeting spot in the tunnels, Cristina is already there, a banana in one hand and a suture kit in the other. “I said I needed to talk, not practice my sutures,” Meredith says snarkily, cracking a smile as she sits next to Cristina on the bed. 

“This isn’t for you,” Cristina says, rolling her eyes as she balances the banana in her lap. “I’m practicing my running whip stitch.” Meredith chuckles and leans against the wall, running her hands down her face. “So, what did you wanna tell me?” Cristina asks as she begins working on the fruit.

“It’s bad,” Meredith murmurs, tangling her hands in her hair.

“Like, cutting LVAD wires bad? Or murder bad?”

“No, it’s more like...possible lesbian bad,” Meredith replies, breaking Cristina’s concentration on the banana.

“You’re a lesbian?” She asks, not the least bit surprised.

“No, I don’t think so, it’s—wait, why don’t you sound shocked?”

“I just know things, Mer. So, tell me about this possible lesbian crush of yours.”

“It’s, well, she’s…” Meredith purses her lips, trying to think of a reasonable way to explain that she may be in love with her sort-of-ex-boyfriend’s wife. “She’s Addison, so that’s…”

“Addison? Like, adulterous whore, boyfriend-stealer Addison?”

“Technically, I stole Derek from her, but yeah. We spent the night in an on-call room…”

“You had sex with Addison Montgomery-Shepherd?”

“No! No, it wasn’t like that. She was just having a hard time, and I...tried to comfort her, I guess. And it just felt right, you know? Like, how I felt with Derek...but sort of better, because she understands me more than he does.”

“Wait, so are you a whole lesbian? Or are you still into guys, too?”

“That’s the thing...I don’t know. I don’t even think Addison’s into girls. She’s with Derek, and she was with Mark, why should I think I have a chance?”

“Why don’t you just kiss her or something? She kisses you back, she’s into you. She pulls away or calls you a dyke, she’s straight.”

“Thanks,” Meredith says sarcastically, scoffing at Cristina’s suggestion. “Then she’ll tell Derek I’m a lesbian, and I won’t have a chance with _either_ Shepherd.”

“I mean, your only other option is to pine over her until you have the inevitable, awkward conversation about your sexualities with each other. If you ask me, I’d avoid that shit.” 

“Do you think I’m misinterpreting it?” Meredith ponders, turning her head towards the other intern. “Maybe I’m just so starved for a semi-healthy relationship that I’ll take whatever I can get.”

“You can kiss me if you wanna test your gayness,” Cristina offers, and Meredith looks at her with disgust.

“You’re my person. That would be weird,” she replies.

“No it wouldn’t!” Cristina replies with a small laugh. “That’s exactly why it’d be fine. That’s something I’d do for my person.” 

“Whatever,” Meredith murmurs. “I don’t need weird sort-of lesbian feelings for two girls. One is enough.”


End file.
